Ralph Macchio can do more with his feet than just crane kick.
The star of Karate Kid: Legends had a chat with Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos on the Friday episode of Live with Kelly and Mark. During the conversation, he revealed that he had taken tap dancing lessons in his younger years.
He fondly reminisced, saying, “I aspired to be like Gene Kelly. My father made me work at the laundromat to teach me the importance of earning money. My mother and I used to watch classic movie musicals together when I was a child. That’s when I developed a strong desire to perform.”
Consuelos inquired if Macchio found his tap dancing background helpful in learning karate for his role as Daniel LaRusso in the Karate Kid series. Macchio acknowledged that he believed it had indeed been beneficial.
“It’s choreography, right? One you pint your toes, the other you flex, I guess,” he teased.
Ripa chimed in, “Do you still tap?”
Macchio hesitantly replied, “A little bit.”
He then stood up to try out his tapping, warning viewers that his performance would be “really cold” and there was “no preparation” involved.
“But let’s see if I can make some noise,” he added.
Macchio began tapping, acknowledging that “it’s a little sticky.” Nonetheless, he earned applause from the studio audience and praise from Ripa, who called his performance “very impressive.” Once Macchio took a seat again, he quipped, “Yeah, we did not have that in the notes.”
Ripa echoed “that was not in the notes,” teasing that “once in a while, really good things happen.”
Consuelos agreed, “It sounded really, really good.”
Live with Kelly and Mark airs on weekdays. Check out their website for your local listings.
(function(d, s, id) {
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) return;
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&appId=823934954307605&version=v2.8”;
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));
